Miercom Report DR130815 Dell Networking S6000 Switch 08Oct2013

7/24/2019 Miercom Report DR130815 Dell Networking S6000 Switch 08Oct2013

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August 2013

Re ort *******

Dell Networking S6000

High-performance 10/40 GbE

Top-of-Rack Switch

Miercom Lab Testing Report

October 2013

Report 130815


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Dell Networking S6000 Switch DR130815

Copyright

2013 Miercom Page 2 8October2013

Contents

1.0 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 3

2.0 About the Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE Switch ............................................................. 4

3.0 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 5

3.1 Test Bed Diagram ............................................................................................................... 6

3.2 Hardware and Software Featured in Testing ....................................................................... 6

4.0 Performance Testing .............................................................................................................. 7

4.1 RFC 2544 Throughput ........................................................................................................ 7

4.2 RFC 2544 Latency .............................................................................................................. 9

4.3 RFC 2889 Fully Meshed Throughput ................................................................................ 13

4.4 RFC 2889 Fully Meshed Latency ...................................................................................... 15

4.5 RFC 3918 Layer 3 Multicast Throughput .......................................................................... 17

4.6 RFC 3918 Layer 3 Multicast Latency ................................................................................ 19

4.7 RFC 3918 Layer 3 Group Join Delay and Group Leave Delay .......................................... 20

5.0 Scalability Test ..................................................................................................................... 22

6.0 Power Consumption and Efficiency Test .............................................................................. 23

7.0 VDI Scalability Testing ......................................................................................................... 24

8.0 Features ............................................................................................................................... 27

8.1 Tool-less and Hot-swappable Maintenance ...................................................................... 27

8.2 Default Configuration ........................................................................................................ 27


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1.0 Executive Summary

Dell engaged Miercom to evaluate its Dell Networking S6000 high-performance 10/40 GbETop-of-Rack/End-of-Row switch for high-bandwidth, low-latency deployments, such as use invirtualized data centers.

Comprehensive, hands-on testing assessed performance and energy efficiency as well asscalability to 10,000 virtual desktop users in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment.Performance testing, which focused on throughput and latency, utilized RFC 2544, 2889 and3918 benchmarking methodologies.

Key findings include:

Easily transmits frame sizes of 128 to 12000 bytes at full line rate with low latency and noloss in RFC 2544, 2889 and 3918 testing

Verified table capacities support high port density and high performance: 16,384 IPv4routes, 163,836 MAC addresses and 52,251 ARP addresses

RFC 2544 Layer 2 performance testing validated full line rate throughput of 2.56 Tbps

with all ports fully loaded and a forwarding rate of 1,464,007,507 frames per second (fps)

Energy consumption ranged from .25 of a watt per Gbps for the smallest frame sizetested, 64 bytes, to .12 for the largest frame size tested, 12000 bytes

Redundant power supplies and hot-swappable cooling fans and hard drives simplifyongoing maintenance

With a base configuration of 32 ports of 40 GbE QSFP+, the switch can play an important role asa spine switch in a leaf-spine architecture that is the foundation of a cloud-based environment. Italso can help to connect physical hardware and virtual machines in a virtualized environment.

The S6000 also can be configured with 96 ports of 10 GbE and eight additional ports of 40 GbE.This is a migration path as speed in the network core approaches 40 Gbps.

Miercom was impressed with the S6000, which exhibited high performance and low latency inperformance testing while operating in store-and-forward mode and running two differentversions of the FTOS firmware, pre-release 9-0 (2-28) and production 9.0 (2.0). It also exhibiteda high level of scalability in a VDI environment.

The Dell S6000 Top-of-Row/End-of-Rack switch operating in store-and-forward mode hasearned Miercom Performance Verified.

Rob Smithers

CEO

Miercom


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2.0 About the Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE Switch

The Dell Networking S6000 is a Layer 2 and Layer 3 Top-of-Row/End-of-Rack 10/40 Ethernetswitch designed for deployment in scenarios that require a combination of high bandwidth andlow latency.

A key deployment scenario is as a switch in traditional Ethernet and Layer 2 fabrics for virtualdata centers. Others scenarios are:

Aggregation switch for enterprise LAN serving mid-sized and large customers or handlinghigh-frequency financial trading, Web 2.0, big data and other heavy workload operations

Traditional Ethernet switch with redundant connections to 10 GbE rack and blade servers

The S6000 delivers high performance, 2.56 Tbps of switching I/O bandwidth in full duplex mode,from a compact 1U form factor, which conserves rack space. The MTU verified in testing is12000 bytes, a super jumbo frame size.

The primary configuration is 32 ports of 40 GbE QSFP+. An alternate configuration, 96 ports of10 GbE and eight additional ports of 40 GbE, can create a pathway for the migration of speed inthe network core to 40 Gbps. Configuration of the FTOS switch firmware is done via the CLI. Thedefault forwarding mode is store-and-forward.

Large tables support the high port density and high performance of the S6000. Testing verifiedthe following capacities: IPv4 routing table, 16,384; MAC address table, 163,836; and ARPaddress table, 52,251. All are beyond the vendor-stated capacity.

Priority-Based Flow Control (PFC), Data Center Bridge Exchange (DCBX) and EnhancedTransmission Selection (ETS) make the S6000 a good fit for the Data Center Bridging (DCB)environment and iSCSI storage networking.

Layer 2 multi-path support via Virtual Link Trunking (VLT) is a key feature. A proprietary Layer 2link aggregation protocol, VLT offers servers connected to different access switches a redundant,load-balancing connection to the network core in a loop-free environment that has benefitsbeyond that of Spanning Tree Protocol.

The S6000 also supports Multi-domain Virtual Link Trunking (mVLT), a proprietary Dell designfor multi-dimensional VLT that allows multiple VLT domains to be linked with a VLT LAG. VLTand mVLT enable the S6000 to be positioned as core-aggregation layer and to serve as a Layer2 top-of-rack core or aggregation switch. The combination also provides a robust, multi-chassislagging feature that permits the switch infrastructure to maintain high availability even duringchassis upgrade times.

Tool-less mounting kits, redundant power supplies and hot-swappable hard drives and cooling

fans reduce the time and labor needed to install and maintain the S6000.


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3.0 Methodology

The Dell Networking S6000 switch wasevaluated in testing running a pre-releaseversion of the FTOS firmware, 9-0 (2-28) aswell as a production version, 9.0 (2.0).

In performance testing, throughput andlatency were measured in accordance withthe RFC 2544, 2889 and 3918 benchmarkingmethodologies. Layer 2 and/or Layer 3 trafficwas utilized in all performance tests, theresult of which was the average of three tests.

The RFC 2889 test was used to verify thethroughput and latency of fully meshed traffic.The RFC 3918 test was used to verify thethroughput and latency of Layer 3 IPv4multicast traffic.

RFC 2544, 2889 and 3918 latency valueswere verified utilizing 10 GbE and 40 GbEports of the Dell S6000, which was configuredin store-and-forward mode.

In addition, scalability testing verified the IPv4 route capacity and the capacity of the MAC andARP tables.

Power consumption was monitored during booting and idling as well as at full line rate withdifferent frame sizes. The S6000 switch supports fiber optic cable, but does not support theEnergy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) standard, IEEE 802.az.

The Ixia XM12 chassis running the Ixia IxNetwork application drove network traffic through the

S6000 switch in RFC 2544 and 2889 testing. The combination of the XM12 and the IxAutomateapplication was used in the RFC 3918 testing.

Ixia (www.ixiacom.com)is an industry leader in performance testing of networking equipment.Ixias exclusive approach employs coordination of energy measurements with network trafficload, allowing energy consumption to be charted against network traffic volume. Real-world trafficis generated by Ixias test platform and test applications, principally the IxAutomate applicationfor Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching and routing traffic.

The Ixia XM12 also was used to determine the capacity of the MAC address table and the IPv4routing table.

The BreakingPoint Firestorm chassis was used to determine the capacity of the ARP addresstable. The BreakingPoint Firestorm can saturate Class B subnets by injecting traffic that simulatesmore than thousands of servers and clients with unique IP addresses and MAC addresses. It ispossible to configure port numbers for traffic injection as well as total andper-port bandwidth, session counts, and end device counts. The BreakingPoint Firestorm ismanaged via multiple interfaces, including a Web-based graphical user interface and a RS-232Cor SSL CLI interface.

The peer mapping function of the WildPackets OmniPeek network analyzer was used to analyzethe characteristics of the VDI traffic.

Ixia XM12 Chassis

Ixia (www.ixiacom.com)is an industry leader inperformance testing of networking equipment.Traffic routed through the Dell S6000 switchwas generated by the Ixia XM12 test platform,which ran the following Ixia test applications:IxNetwork for RFC 2544 and 2889 testing,IxAutomate for RFC 3918 and table sizetesting, and IxExplorer for powerconsumption testing.
http://www.ixiacom.com/http://www.ixiacom.com/http://www.ixiacom.com/http://www.ixiacom.com/http://www.ixiacom.com/http://www.ixiacom.com/http://www.ixiacom.com/http://www.ixiacom.com/


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3.1 Test Bed Diagram

3.2 Hardware and Software Featured in Testing

Hardware

Name Function Software Version

Dell S6000 Spine switch FTOS pre-release 9-0 (2-28), production 9.0 (2.0)

Ixia XM12 Traffic generator IxOS 6.40.900.6 EA (Chassis: 7.00.395.6)

BreakingPoint FireStorm Traffic generator System 3.1.0 Product Build: 116072

Software

Name Function Version

Ixia IxNetwork

RFC 2544 and 2889

Testing Tool 7.0.801.25 EA

Ixia IxAutomateRFC 3918 Multicastand Table Size TestingTool

7.40.123.5 GA-Patch1

Ixia IxExplorerPower ConsumptionTesting Tool

6.40.900 Build 6

WildPackets OmniPeek Network Analyzer 7.5

BreakingPoint FireStorm

Ixia XM12

Dell Networking S6000

Source: Miercom, October 2013


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4.0 Performance Testing

Performance tests focused on throughput and latency and were conducted in accordance withthe RFC 2544, 2889 and 3918 benchmark methodologies.

Configuring the S6000 switch was straightforward. Testing verified that the MTU was 12000

bytes, a super jumbo frame size.

Layer 2 traffic passed through a single VLAN. In order to conduct Layer 3 testing, each 10 GbEand 40 GbE port was untagged and was assigned to a unique VLAN.

VLAN and IP address configuration also was straightforward.

4.1 RFC 2544 Throughput

This test determines the maximum rate at which the S6000 receives and forwards Layer 2 andLayer 3 frames without loss.

The Ixia XM12 as the test load generator forwarded traffic to and received it from each directly

connected port. Results from two throughput tests are included in this report, one utilized 10 GbEports. The other utilized 40 GbE ports.

Frames generally were sent at the maximum theoretical rate based on the supported port speed.This test is configured with one-to-one traffic mapping as shown in the figure below.

RFC 2544 Throughput Configuration

The test results will show the maximum throughput the switch is able to achieve without anyframe loss. In addition, a latency value will be captured for each frame size tested.


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Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE Switch

RFC 2544 Layer 2 and Layer 3 Throughput Test, 96 x 10 GbE and 8 x 40 GbE ports

The Dell S6000 exhibited line rate throughput for Layer 2 and Layer 3 traffic using the RFC 2544benchmarking methodology. The minimum frame size at which the switch handled 100% line ratethroughput was 90 bytes. The maximum was a super jumbo frame size, 12000 bytes. Testing verified aforwarding rate for 64-byte packets of 1,464,007,507 frames per second (fps) for the switch. 96 x 10 GbE

and 8 x 40 GbE ports were used in testing.

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LineRate(%)

Frame Size (Bytes)

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Source: Miercom Switch Industry Assessment,

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4.2 RFC 2544 Latency

A latency value was captured for each frame size utilized in RFC 2544 Layer 2 and Layer 3throughput in the two tests, one utilizing 10GbE ports and the other utilizing 40 GbE ports. TheS6000 switch exhibited low latency for all Layer 2 and Layer 3 frame sizes tested.

For 10 GbE ports, there were minor differences in Layer 2 and Layer 3 maximum, average andminimum latency values for all frame sizes. The largest was .03 s between the maximum Layer2 (0.88 s) and Layer 3 (0.91 s) for 1024-byte frames.

Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchRFC 2544 Layer 2 Latency Test, 96 x 10 GbE ports

The Dell S6000 Switch exhibited consistently low latency values in the RFC 2544 Layer 2 Latency Testthat utilized 96 x 10 GbE ports. Average latency ranged from a low of 0.70 s for 128-byte frames to ahigh of 0.81 s for 1024-byte frames. The switch was configured in store-and-forward mode and wastested with an Ixia XM12 using RFC standard benchmark test suites.

0.820.80

0.84 0.850.88 0.88

0.90 0.890.87

0.89

0.72 0.700.74 0.78

0.81

0.79 0.79 0.78 0.78 0.79

0.61 0.60 0.62

0.65 0.67 0.66 0.67

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0.810.78

0.84 0.87

0.91

0.87

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0.87

0.89 0.89

0.72 0.690.74

0.77 0.80 0.78 0.79 0.77 0.78 0.78

0.62 0.60 0.62 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.64 0.65 0.65

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0.581

0.5960.605

0.6070.604 0.603 0.601

0.608 0.609 0.611

0.565

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0.588 0.589 0.592

0.5870.584

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128 256 512 1024 1280 1518 3054 5120 9216 11982

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The Dell S6000 Switch exhibited consistently low latency values in the RFC 2544 Layer 3 Latency Testthat utilized its 32 x 40 GbE ports. Average latency ranged from a low of 0.560 s for 128-byte frames toa high of 0.594 s for 9216-byte frames. The switch was configured in store-and-forward mode and wastested with an Ixia XM12 using RFC standard benchmark test suites.

0.581

0.596

0.605 0.607 0.611

0.6030.609 0.608 0.609 0.604

0.560

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0.591 0.589 0.5890.587 0.586

0.5880.594

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0.5700.567

0.5710.568 0.569 0.568

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128 256 512 1024 1280 1518 3054 5120 9216 11982

Latency(s)

Frame Size (Bytes)

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4.3 RFC 2889 Fully Meshed Throughput

The objective is to determine the maximum rate of fully meshed traffic the S6000 can handle.The cross-processor performance of the switch is verified.

With the Ixia XM12 generating test traffic and IxNetwork software conducting traffic analysis,

many-to-many traffic mapping is used. Each S6000 10 GbE port transmits frames to all otherswitch ports in an evenly distributed, round-robin manner and receives frames from all otherports.

RFC 2889 Fully Meshed Throughput Configuration

The maximum throughput the switch can achieve without any frame loss will be verified. In

addition, a latency value will be captured for each frame size tested.


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Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchRFC 2889 Layer 2 and Layer 3 Fully Meshed Throughput Test, 96 x 10 GbE

The Dell S6000 switch exhibited line rate throughput for Layer 2 and Layer 3 traffic using the RFC 2889benchmarking methodology. The S6000 achieved 100% line rate throughput for Layer 2 and Layer 3 fullymeshed traffic for all frame sizes from 128 bytes to 12000 bytes. An Ixia XM12 using RFC standardbenchmark suites conducted the tests, which utilized 96 x10 GbE ports on the switch.

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4.4 RFC 2889 Fully Meshed Latency

A latency value was captured for each frame size in the RFC 2889 Layer 2 and Layer 3throughput testing. The S6000 switch exhibited low latency for all Layer 2 and Layer 3 framesizes tested. There was little difference between the Layer 2 and Layer 3 latency values for eachframe size.

Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchRFC 2889 Fully Meshed Layer 2 Latency Test, 96 x 10 GbE

The Dell S6000 Switch exhibited consistently low latency values in the RFC 2889 Fully Meshed Layer 2Latency Test. Average latency ranged from a low of 0.70 s for 128-byte frames to a high of 0.81 s for1024- and 9216-byte frames. The S6000 was configured in store-and-forward mode. An Ixia XM12 usingRFC standard benchmark suites conducted the test, which utilized 96 x 10 GbE ports on the switch.

0.82 0.800.84

0.88 0.90 0.89 0.90 0.89 0.91 0.90

0.72 0.700.74

0.78 0.81 0.79 0.80 0.78

0.81 0.79

0.60 0.60 0.62 0.65 0.65 0.64 0.65 0.64

0.67 0.66

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Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchRFC 2889 Fully Meshed Layer 3 Latency, 96 x 10 GbE ports

The Dell S6000 Switch exhibited consistently low latency values in the RFC 2889 Fully Meshed Layer 3Latency Test. Average latency ranged from a low of 0.70 s for 128-byte frames to a high of 0.81 s for1024-byte frames. The S6000 was configured in store-and-forward mode. An Ixia XM12 using RFCstandard benchmark suites conducted the test, which utilized 96 x 10 GbE ports on the switch.

0.820.79

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0.91 0.90 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.91

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0.62 0.64

0.66 0.65 0.65 0.64 0.65 0.66

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4.5 RFC 3918 Layer 3 Multicast Throughput

The objective of the RFC 3918 Layer 3 Multicast Throughput Test is to validate the maximumrate of Layer 3 IPv4 multicast traffic that can be handled by the S6000.

A binary or a linear search and one-to-many traffic mapping, minimum of two ports, was used as

shown in the figure below. IGMP snooping, based on the IGMPv2 protocol, was enabled on theS6000 switch in order to learn multicast groups and their members.

Traffic was transmitted from one port on the S6000 and received on the other ports. TheIxAutomate application running on the Ixia XM12 injected IGMPv2 multicast traffic.

RFC 3918 Multicast Throughput Configuration

The S6000 successfully transmitted traffic to all multicast member ports at 100% line rate forframe sizes ranging from 68 to 12000 bytes.

Testing verified that the switch was capable of snooping the multicast groups and then properlytransmitting multicast traffic at 100% line rate with zero loss to each multicast group member.


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RFC 3918 Layer 3 Multicast Throughput Test, 96 x 10 GbE ports

The Dell S6000 switch exhibited line rate throughput for Layer 3 IPv4 traffic using RFC 3918 standardtests. The S6000 achieved 100% line rate throughput for Layer 3 IPv4 multicast traffic for all frame sizesfrom 68 bytes to 12000 bytes. An Ixia XM12 conducted the test, which utilized 96 x 10 GbE ports onthe S6000.

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LineRate(%)

FrameSize (Bytes)Source: Miercom Switch Industry Assessment,

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4.6 RFC 3918 Layer 3 Multicast Latency

A latency value was captured for each frame size utilized in RFC 3918 Layer 3 throughputtesting. The S6000 switch exhibited low latency for all frame sizes tested.


RFC 3918 Multicast Layer 3 Latency Test, 96 x 10GbE

The Dell S6000 Switch exhibited consistently low latency values in the RFC 3918 Multicast Latency Test.Average latency ranged from a low of 0.72 s for 68- and 128-byte frames to a high of 0.83 s for 1024-byte frames. The S6000 was configured in store-and-forward mode. An Ixia XM12 using RFC standardbenchmark suites conducted the test, which utilized 96 x10 GbE ports of the switch.

0.73 0.74

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0.72 0.72

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0.83 0.830.82

0.78 0.79 0.780.80

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4.7 RFC 3918 Layer 3 Group Join Delay and Group Leave Delay

The Group Join Delay Test determines how long it takes a switch to register multicast clients to anew or existing group in its forwarding table.

The duration between the time a switch receives a group of IGMP/MLD Join requests and the

time the multicast clients begin receiving traffic for the groups they joined is measured. Theimpact of different frame sizes on the duration is recorded.

The Group Leave Delay Test determines how long it takes a switch to remove a client from itsmulticast table.

The duration between the time a switch receives a group of IGMP/MLD Leave requests and thetime the multicast clients stop receiving traffic for the groups they left is measured. The impact ofdifferent frame sizes on the duration is recorded.

RFC 3918 Multicast Group Join Delay and Group Leave Delay Configuration


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In the Group Join Delay Test, the S6000 exhibited a gradual increase in latency thatcorresponded with the increase in frame size.

Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchRFC 3918 Multicast Group Join Delay Test, 10 GbE

Frame Size (Bytes) Group Join Delay (ns)68 220.00

128 223.89

256 237.22

12 261.11

1024 306.11

1280 329.44

1518 352.67

In the Leave Delay Test, the S6000 exhibited a fractional decrease in latency

as the frame size increased.

Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchRFC 3918 Multicast Group Leave Delay Test, 10 GbE

Frame Size (Bytes) Group Leave Delay (seconds)

68 30.13

128 30.06

256 30.01

512 29.99

1024 29.971280 29.97

1518 29.96

With all receivers subscribed to nine multicast groups, the average Group Join Delaylatency of the S6000 was 275.63 nanoseconds compared to an average GroupLeave Delay latency of 30.01 seconds.

Testing verified the maximum multicast group capacity of the S6000 to be thevendor-stated figure, 8,000.


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5.0 Scalability Test

The Dell Networking S6000 switch has high port density and 2.56 Tbps of bandwidth in fullduplex mode. This requires large Layer 2 and Layer 3 tables. Scalability testing validated IPv4route capacity and the address capacity of the MAC and ARP tables.

IPv4 Route Capacity

To verify the capacity that the S6000 can sustain, the OSPF route capacity test was conducted.The switch learned 16,384 IPv4 routes.

MAC Address Table Size

This test utilized two 10 GbE ports on the S6000, one configured to transmit and the otherconfigured to receive. Random MAC addresses were transmitted to the receive port until theMAC table was filled. Capacity was verified to be 163,836 addresses.

ARP Address Table Size

The scalability of the S6000 when it interconnects with subnets containing a large number ofnodes was assessed. The capacity of the ARP table was validated to be 52,251 addresses.

Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchAddress and Routing Tables Verification

Table Verified Capacity

IPv4 Routing 16,384

MAC Address 163,836

ARP Address 52,251


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6.0 Power Consumption and Efficiency Test

Layer 2 traffic was generated for five minutes at 100% line rate using various frame sizes, 64through 12000 bytes, to determine power consumption of the S6000.

The power efficiency of the switch is based on the watts required to transmit traffic throughput

measured in Gbps. The resulting value measured for power efficiency is in units of watts/Gbps.

Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchPower Consumption and Efficiency Test, 96 x 10GbE and 8 x 40GbE

Greater energy consumption is required for a switch to transmit smaller frames. In testing, the S6000consumed the greater amount of energy to transmit the smallest frame size, .25 of a watt for 64 bytes.The smallest amount of energy was required to transmit the largest frame size, 0.12 of a watt for12,000 bytes.

ConsumptionWatts

Efficiency(Watts/Gbps)


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7.0 VDI Scalability Testing

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is being utilized in the IT infrastructure at a rapidlyaccelerating rate. Because virtual user desktops are hosted on physical servers inside thenetwork core, the virtualization technology provides efficient resource utilization for end usercomputing and data security. It also facilitates a BYOD environment by offering access from anyclient devices, such as a laptop, smart phone, tablet and thin client.

Since the network handles all input to and output from virtual user desktops, its scalability iscrucial in a VDI environment.

The objective of this test was to confirm whether the S6000 can support 10,000 users in a VDIenvironment. (10,000 is the maximum number of users that can be supported by the desktopvirtualization software used in testing, Horizon View 5.2 from VMware.)

The simulated traffic was injected using the Ixia XM12 and the BreakingPoint FireStorm. Thescenarios consisted of traffic distribution data, frame size distribution and traffic capture(payload) that were emulated by both traffic generators.

Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchVDI Traffic Pattern (Peer and Mesh)

This VDI traffic distribution is the model on which the traffic distribution used in scalability testing wasbased. It has a point-to-multipoint appearance.

The VMware designation of a Power User (standard) was selected for the Horizon View clients. Itis the third of four user types in ascending order in the VMware Horizon View ArchitecturePlanning Guide. Characteristics include a usage level of compute-intensive and a virtual machineconfiguration of 1vCPU and 2GB RAM.

Miercom projected prior to testing that in order to accommodate a virtual desktop environment of10,000 Power Users (standard), the S6000 would have to maintain at least 20 Gbps of traffic.


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To analyze the characteristics of the VDI traffic, the peer mapping function of the WildPacketsOmniPeek network analyzer was used. The Ixia XM12 injected fully meshed, custom IMIX trafficthat was equal to or more than that needed to support 10,000 VDI sessions.

Fully Meshed Traffic Generated by Ixia XM12

The distribution of frame sizes of VDI traffic generated by the Ixia XM12 and handled by theS6000 is shown below. Because the VMware default frame size is 1300 bytes, 1024-1518frames accounts for the largest % of the traffic distribution.

VDI Traffic, Percentage Distribution by Frame Sizes

VDI traffic frame-size distribution used in scalability testing for 10,000 users. Note that large packets, 1024-1518 bytes, make up nearly half of the distribution.

Using just seven 10 GbE ports, the capacity of the S6000 was verified to be 63.2 Gbps of fullymeshed traffic at 99.5% line rate with low latency. There was no frame loss and no networkanomalies. See the table on the following page.

15.7

25.7

4.75.7

48.3

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256 - 511

512 - 1023

1024 - 1518

Traffic flow

configuration path of

fully meshed traffic

between the Ixia

XM12 traffic

generation test and a

generic Device under

Test (DUT).


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The near-theoretical maximum of traffic throughput for these seven ports was achieved, farexceeding the amount needed to support a 10,000-user VDI environment. The slight differencefrom 100% line rate is attributable to the inter-frame gap (IFG) for the custom IMIX trafficdistribution used in testing.

Dell Networking S6000 10/40 GbE SwitchVerified Throughput of Seven 10 GbE Ports, Fully Meshed Traffic

Tested Ports Traffic Type Line Rate (%)Throughput

(Gbps)

7 x10 GbE Fully Meshed 99.5 63.20


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8.0 Features

8.1 Tool-less and Hot-swappable Maintenance

Once a spine switch is installed in a data center, shutting it down or doing emergencymaintenance on it is not easy. Many switches and other network equipment have removable,redundant power supplies and hot-swappable hard drives and cooling fans.

The S6000 has six cooling fans that reside on a hot-swappable tray with a quick-remove tab.This is an advantage that shortens the mean time to repair (MTTR).

8.2 Default Configuration

In the Dell Networking S6000, store-and-forward is the default operating mode. SpanningTree Protocol and cut-through mode are disabled. The minimum queue size of the optionalcut-through mode is one.

As mentioned above, the MTU was 12000 bytes, a super jumbo frame size, for both Layer 2 and

Layer 3.

These characteristics, low latency and support for Data Center Bridging (DCB) make theS6000 well-suited for one of its key applications, an iSCSI storage deployment includingDCB-converged lossless transactions.


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Documents

Miercom Report DR130815 Dell Networking S6000 Switch 08Oct2013